Cycling can be divisive. For every die-hard bike nut, there is a cycle-phobe who never got beyond stabilisers. 


For every cycling campaigner, demanding equal rights, there is a driver frustrated by bicycles on Oxford’s busy roads.


Broken Spoke Bike Co-op is the alternative to that division, working to ensure that cycling is a way to bring all areas of a community together.


Created in 2012, the co-operative social enterprise operates with the goal of making people more proficient and confident in bicycle maintenance and riding. The principle is that taking your bike to a shop when it needs a bit of care can be an experience which leaves you worse off financially but no better off in terms of skills or confidence. Learning how to fix it yourself, however, is the key to a healthier relationship with your bicycle and, by extension, a more positive outlook on a life on two wheels.


Eleanor Smith, one of Broken Spoke’s co-founders, sees a strong parallel between fixing bikes and fixing society. “The bikes are a great social equaliser. In Oxford they are the most practical way to get around no matter who you are or where you come from. We end up with people who have very different backgrounds in the workshop all brought together by the need to learn and do necessary maintenance to keep their bike working,” she said.


Broken Spoke run three open workshop sessions a week, from Friday to Sunday 11am-5pm, at their workshop HQ inside Oxford’s Story Museum on Pembroke Street. These relaxed, informal drop-in workshops are perfect for those who want to make use of the vast array of tools and friendly expertise available. Specific courses are also available, from Bike Maintenance 101 right up to the ever-popular Build-a-Bike one-on-one class.


It’s not just the mechanics of bicycles which Broken Spoke are determined to make accessible, it’s also cycling itself. Their accredited one-on-one training sessions are arranged at times and locations to suit the trainees and bikes can be borrowed if needed.


Currently, the co-operative is made up of five staff members and a whole host of volunteers who keep the wheels greased as well as 40-odd supporters who get free open workshop access and discounts on courses. The benefits are open to everyone, however, whatever your level of knowledge or bike obsession.


Open workshops: http://bsbcoop.org/what-we-do/drop-in-workshops/ 
Mechanics courses: http://bsbcoop.org/what-we-do/mechanics-courses/ 

Cycle training: http://bsbcoop.org/what-we-do/cycle-training 
Follow us on Twitter @BrokenSpokeCoop 
Connect on Facebook https://www.facebook.com/BrokenSpokeBikeCoop